Particularities of rheumatoid arthritis in aged people

Forty patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) selected according to the ARA criteria, in whom the onset of disease had appeared after the age of 65 years, were studied comparatively with a control group of 40 RA patients in whom the disease had occurred before this age. Every patient was subjected to a complex clinical and biologic investigation. The characteristics of the two groups are presented. The onset of disease in old age was frequently acute (65% of the cases as compared with 45% in the control group). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant from this viewpoint (p less than 0.001). Presence at onset of certain general manifestations associated with loss of weight, risomelic involvement and association of Horton disease were found in 50% of the old agers as compared with 12.5% in the control group. The radiologic aspect was similar in both groups. Positive rheumatoid factor in 64% of the cases, as well as the homogeneous or speckled antinuclear factor were likewise comparable with the data in the younger group. From the evolutive point of view RA with onset in old age showed good response to therapy. Chrysotherapy was effective in 80% of the patients in the old age group and in less than 50% of the controls.